KITAS expires in Oct, and UK passport expires in January

[someuser]

Hi all, I would very much appreciate some advice please; so my family's KITAS (wife and kids) are due to expire in the beginning of October, and their passports expire in beginning January, I've heard that extending the KITAS will only be to the expiry date of the passport (does this mean I need to pay for another full visa in January? or just an admin fee to transfer to the new passport).

I'm considering to chance it and renew now - but I can't seem to get hold of VFS Global (the people who process UK passport renewals), and not much info on both their site and the British embassy fb/twitter feeds regarding if even open - so wondering;
1) has anyone renewed their uk passports recently, and if so how long did it take?
2) can I just show up to VFS Global and pay the "premium no appointment walk-in fee" and process the renewal - (it's not clear if this service is for uk visa applications only or also valid for passport renewals)

I've called HMPO and the British embassy in Jakarta, the former not much help, and the latter even less so... and VFS global, other than an email address no way to contact them.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be very much appreciated.

 

[snpark]

Took me less than 2 weeks

All has to be done online via website make appointment etc

They're currently shut

 

[snpark]

Next time use the search function:

UK passport renewal March 2020

Just curious, do they really still insist on a full colour photocopy of EVERY page? And just fyi, I emailed today to renew one of my adult ones (I have 2, will explain how and why later), and they said come on Monday at 10a.m Last time for me was 3 years ago, this one again is already full but...

www.expatindo.org

 

[someuser]

very useful, thanks @snpark

 

[scouser59]

Hi all, I would very much appreciate some advice please; so my family's KITAS (wife and kids) are due to expire in the beginning of October, and their passports expire in beginning January, I've heard that extending the KITAS will only be to the expiry date of the passport (does this mean I need to pay for another full visa in January? or just an admin fee to transfer to the new passport).

I'm considering to chance it and renew now - but I can't seem to get hold of VFS Global (the people who process UK passport renewals), and not much info on both their site and the British embassy fb/twitter feeds regarding if even open - so wondering;
1) has anyone renewed their uk passports recently, and if so how long did it take?
2) can I just show up to VFS Global and pay the "premium no appointment walk-in fee" and process the renewal - (it's not clear if this service is for uk visa applications only or also valid for passport renewals)

I've called HMPO and the British embassy in Jakarta, the former not much help, and the latter even less so... and VFS global, other than an email address no way to contact them.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be very much appreciated.

I did my uk passport around 6 months ago ,vfs bali , ya I had a problem with the appointment system , they took a long while to reply , I ended up going around the security at vfs to speak to a "human being" with my questions about the application , after 1 minute an appointment booked .

The embassy do not seem to wish to help with questions about the application system for passports with vfs , ya no profit for them .

I got some information here on the forum about the application process with vfs , but I got most info from an english teachers blog in thailand of all places .

I did suggest to vfs a manned helpline would help clients .

When the application was accepted by vfs , I ended up calling the passport office in uk after a month about the delay ,my fotos were rejected , they said vfs should have told me hmmm ,so more fotos and a further visit to vfs , new fotos sent , similar to the originals ,they were accepted .

Ya a somewhat tortuous process ,not like my previous renewal at the uk consulate ,which is now closed .

 

[snpark]

Was that through the vfs indonesia / jakarta system or does Bali have it's own page and link?

 

[scouser59]

Was that through the vfs indonesia / jakarta system or does Bali have it's own page and link?

vfs indonesia , bali as far "as I remember" does not have its own website , I followed the information online .

 

[snpark]

ok maybe it just asks you bali or jakarta then
Certainly Jakarta is / was pretty quick, last time I emailed for an appt it was Friday pm and I got the first one for Monday a.m
But that was for a Brit renewing a passport - mostly VFS is for visas etc

 

[someuser]

given the latest extension of lockdown I thought might be useful to share my findings/experience in case of interest or use to anyone else in similar situation;

• VFS are indeed closed atm, and after some hunting found this url which worth keeping an eye on - https://www.vfsglobal.com/en/individuals/covid-19-customer-advisories.html
• I saw somewhere, back in October, VFS were processing only passport renewals by mail-in/courier (although not relevant now, hoping with the latest lockdown extension this becomes a possibility again...)
• VFS' "Official 24x7 Customer Care" (@vfsglobalcare) twitter channel, not much help, as they just give a canned response to visit their site, which links to gov.uk, which then just gives the email address of VFS to book an appointment ... who aren't responding atm
• UK embassy have no advice/nor help to offer (I've called them several times) in this particular situation
• HMPO also haven't got any "official" advice to give right now other than what's on gov.uk (also called them several times too) - however, the helpful lady I spoke to this morning has said that HMPO can expedite passport renewals where there's legal risk (eg. visa expiring, big fines, not having valid documents etc.), so she suggested I wait until VFS re-open for passport renewals, and once I have the application reference I need to call HMPO, and they will transfer me to the expediting team who will speed up the process, so it won't take "up to 11 weeks"

on a separate note, my lawyer has advised that a Dutch client of theirs got a 1 year passport extension stamp via their embassy, so worth noting for non-UK citizens reading this in similar situation, to ask your embassy if this is a possibility .... for us brits, this is not an option sadly...

 

[snpark]

As long as vfs and uk side open u can expect to get a new passport back within 2 week

 

[nd_eric_77]

By the way, a few years ago, my kitas agent told me that imigrasi would not even consider renewing my kitas if my passport had fewer than 18 months of validity. Things may have changed since then, but that was my experience.

 

[someuser]

thanks @nd_eric_77 useful to know, will double check on this too

 

[HappyMan]

By the way, a few years ago, my kitas agent told me that imigrasi would not even consider renewing my kitas if my passport had fewer than 18 months of validity. Things may have changed since then, but that was my experience.

thanks @nd_eric_77 useful to know, will double check on this too

If the KITAS is for a year, the passport will also need at least a year on it. We recently discussed this (including links to the relevant regulations) here on the forum. Should be searchable.

 

[Sharethelove]

Hi all, I would very much appreciate some advice please; so my family's KITAS (wife and kids) are due to expire in the beginning of October, and their passports expire in beginning January, I've heard that extending the KITAS will only be to the expiry date of the passport (does this mean I need to pay for another full visa in January? or just an admin fee to transfer to the new passport).

I'm considering to chance it and renew now - but I can't seem to get hold of VFS Global (the people who process UK passport renewals), and not much info on both their site and the British embassy fb/twitter feeds regarding if even open - so wondering;
1) has anyone renewed their uk passports recently, and if so how long did it take?
2) can I just show up to VFS Global and pay the "premium no appointment walk-in fee" and process the renewal - (it's not clear if this service is for uk visa applications only or also valid for passport renewals)

I've called HMPO and the British embassy in Jakarta, the former not much help, and the latter even less so... and VFS global, other than an email address no way to contact them.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Hi were you able to renew your passport?

 

[someuser]

tldr; not yet

long-answer;
after vfs finally opened I got an appointment a week later, and submitted the renewal applications beginning of this month. then as instructed by hmpo, I tried to call several times, and after spending overall several hours trying to get hold of them I discovered their ivr has an issue which would drop the call (after 30 mins or so of waiting...) before getting to talk to anyone. anyway, I kept trying every few days, and each time they made a note and told me to call again after a few more days because the applications not yet showing, and that I should receive an email from them once it's been inputted.

latest is (last week), I discover whoever inputted my applications got my email address wrong, so of course I haven't/wouldn't have received anything anyway ... then to make things worse, the last person I spoke to at hmpo tells me there's no such thing as expediting overseas passport renewals.

so now in a situation of totally at their mercy whenever they decide to renew it, whatever the penalties/fines incurred they don't seem to care....

tip: if you find you're waiting endlessly on hmpo's main line for a renewal, I suggest don't choose renewal on the ivr, and instead choose new application, and the agent will transfer you. their ivr is broken, and whenever there's long waiting times pretty consistently get at cut-off at around the 30 mins mark.